CombatSports.org

Veteran referee, Herb Dean has reflected on his part in the post-fight brawl between the camps of both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor – explaining that while he, security personnel, and other officials tried to coral the teams, there were still “plenty of targets” of attack.

Sharing the Octagon in a brutal grudge fight back in 2018, then-undisputed lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov managed to defend his title for the first time during his reign – taking on former two-weight champion, McGregor.

Taking on the Dubliner in the main event of UFC 229, Nurmagomedov landed a fourth round neck crank submission win over McGregor – handing the former champion his first defeat at 155lb, before beginning a brutal brawl with the former’s corner, including former Bellator MMA star, Dillon Danis.

Separated from McGregor by referee, Dean after appeared to spit in the direction of his bitter rival following his submission success, Nurmagomedov’s team scaled the Octagon in pursuit of the Dublin striker, with officials storming the cage in a bid to separate and stop the mass brawl.

Herb Dean reflects on Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor brawl

Reflecting on his part in stopping the influx of fights in the Octagon, veteran official, Dean admitted that while he and others managed to corral combatants, everyone inside the venue was a “target” during the fiasco.

“The funny part about that [the brawl] is even though that whole brawl was chaos,” Herb Dean said. “All those guys were extra respectful of the officials. So, I pull him (Khabib Nurmagomedov) off [of Conor McGregor] right? And then he’s still going after him, talking to him, and I’m like pushing against him. And he’s like, ‘Okay, well… I’m not gonna wrestle Herb, but I’ve got other people I’ve gotten – you.’”

“…They’re not listening, but nobody was threatening the referee or one of the inspectors,” Herb Dean explained. “You’re grabbing the guys – once you grab them they’re like, ‘Oh, okay.’ But if you don’t get them they’re like, ‘There’s plenty of targets.’”

LowKickMMA.com

submitted by /u/rmma
[link] [comments]
MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Will Conor McGregor ever fight again? Will he face Michael Chandler in December, as both have alluded to, after their cancelled UFC 303 bout in June?

Those questions have yet to be answered, but veteran fighter Urijah Faber is confident that “The Notorious” is far from done.

Faber, a former WEC featherweight champion who also coached a season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite McGregor back in 2015, told MMA Fighting that he sees hunger in McGregor despite all the money and fame the Irishman has made throughout the years.

“For being a friend but a distant friend, someone that I feel like I’ve spent enough time on with to kind of understand, the guy wants to fight,” Faber said. “He has money, he has fame, he could easily go and just do the movie career or be a businessman or whatever, but I feel like in his heart, his identity, his passions are still to fight. I think he will fight.”

McGregor fractured his leg in a trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier in July 2021 and later left the USADA drug-testing pool, which delayed a potential UFC return. McGregor was finally cleared in 2024 and booked the Chandler match for UFC 303, but withdrew weeks prior with an injured pinky toe.

Faber’s teammate Chad Mendes, who once fought McGregor for the UFC interim title at UFC 189, doubts he’s ever coming back, telling MMA Fighting that McGregor “just keeps backing out.”

Faber disagrees.

“He’s in no rush, he’s going to do it on his terms, which is a great place to be,” Faber said of the constant delays. “Not many people in this world, in our world, mixed martial arts, get to be in the place he’s in, where he wears the pants. But I think he will fight because he loves to fight. I mean, that’s who he is in his heart, that’s what’s given him these opportunities. He’s still young and full of piss and vinegar, so I hope to see him fight. The MMA space always benefits when a superstar comes out and puts their neck out.”

McGregor won 10 of his first 12 UFC bouts, beating the likes of Jose Aldo, Poirier, Max Holloway, Nate Diaz, and Eddie Alvarez, but was stopped twice by Poirier in 2021. If his return is booked for December, it will be almost five years after his most recent victory — a 40-second knockout against Donald Cerrone. But Faber is impressed enough, based on the footage he’s seen of McGregor training, to pick the former champ to beat Chandler.

“If he trains correctly, I think he’ll win,” Faber said. “We actually sent him a Rollbot. If you haven’t seen it, rollbotbjj.com, it’s a company that I have. I was impressed. The Rollbot is a high-tech training dummy with neck sensors and joints that dislocate. He wanted one bad, so we sent him one out, and I was watching him on that thing — and I’m like, ‘This guy is as skilled as it gets when he goes to the ground.’ He hasn’t lost a beat, so I’d like to see him back.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

submitted by /u/rmma
[link] [comments]
MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC is back to the world’s most famous APEX.

This Saturday, the UFC returns Sin City for UFC Vegas 95, headlined by a heavyweight rematch between Marcin Tybura and Serghei Spivac and the No Bets Barred boys are back with a full breakdown of the event.

Co-hosts Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a brief UFc Abu Dhabi and their unfortunate weekends before diving into this Saturday’s event. Can “Surging” Serghei Spivac exact revenge on Marcin Tybura? Why is one of the top-15 women’s bantamweight matchups buried on the prelims? Was this card truly necessary?

All that plus some more Olympics talk on this week’s episode.

Tune in for episode 97 of No Bets Barred.

New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis earned his title shot by defeating former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July 2023.  The event took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and the bout was billed as a ‘title eliminator.’  Du Plessis seized on the opportunity.  

The South African entered the fight with Whittaker riding a seven-fight winning streak but was the betting underdog.  Midway through the second round, he stopped Whittaker with punches to secure a title shot.  He’d go on to defeat Sean Strickland at UFC 297 in January to capture the 185-pound championship.  Take a look back at the win that earned Du Plessis a title shot.      

Dricus Du Plessis vs. Robert Whittaker Full Fight Video

Du Plessis puts his title on the line against former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the UFC 305 main event on Aug. 18, in Perth, Australia in a grudge match.    

Whittaker is booked to take on the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 308 co-main event on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.  The two were scheduled to fight on June 22 at UFC on ABC 6 but illness forced Chimaev out of the fight.  Ikram Aliskerov stepped in as Chimaev’s replacement and was knocked out in the first round.     

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

Will fight again
| BJPenn.com

Muhammad Mokaev is the best, least wanted fighter in mixed martial arts (MMA) right now.

The 24-year-old Flyweight has been perfect in his career thus far, winning 13 of his 14 fights with the lone asterisk coming in the form of a no-contest before his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) arrival in March 2022. Unfortunately for Mokaev, a unanimous decision win over Manel Kape at UFC 304 was not his ticket to a UFC title fight as he hoped. Instead, it was Mokaev’s last with his contract expiring and UFC CEO, Dana White, immediately declining to negotiate and re-sign him.

The decision had many in the MMA community scratching their heads while others agreed with the choice because of a difference in entertainment levels. Former UFC Bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, isn’t among the latter.

“If you ask me, I think it’s f*cked up,” Sterling told The MMA Hour. “I don’t think there was any real reason to cut him. You can say the piggybacking of the fight at the P.I., but that takes two to tango.

“I know Mokaev was the first one to talk sh*t,” he continued. “Manel told him, ‘When you see me, keep that same energy.’ He saw him, tried to apologize, but Manel told him to keep that same energy, they had a fight or whatever happened, the scuffle. Fast forward, they had a fight again … and then we saw what happened at the hotel, which is kind of odd to put your arm around someone to take a picture and then sucker-punch them. I think that’s a little bit too low for me. I think that one was very, very dirty.

“Then they fought the way that they fought, which was unfortunate because the whole toe thing with Manel in that fight,” Sterling concluded. “Then you’ve got one guy who is undefeated, gets cut, it’s weird.”

As clarified, Mokaev wasn’t released but simply fought out his contract and had negotiations closed. Ultimately, Sterling’s point still stands as Mokaev is an undeniable top talent at 125 pounds.

Mokaev likely won’t be back too soon, but anything is possible if he goes out and shines with enough good performances elsewhere.

“You’ve kind of got to just do what’s best for you,” Sterling said. “Mokaev is [24] years old. It’s unfortunate that he got cut for that. I don’t think that was necessary. He more than deserved another chance and I think if he goes on the regional circuit and wins one fight, or if they just bring him back right away, it gets odd.”

Sterling, 35, will make his second appearance in the Featherweight division when he battles the undefeated 18-0 contender, Movsar Evloev, at UFC 307 on Oct. 5, 2024.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

submitted by /u/StoryOfTheFight [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Abus Magomedov is the latest Russian addition to UFC 308 after agreeing to face Brunno Ferreira at the Oct. 26 card, multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting following a report from Laerte Viana.

UFC 308 is headlined by Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway for the featherweight championship, with former middleweight titleholder Robert Whittaker taking on Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event. The event takes place at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena.

Ferreira (12-1) was initially set to face Roman Kopylov on Aug. 24, but the Russian withdrew due to illness.

“Hulk” scored a pair of first-round knockouts in his most recent UFC appearances, winning performance bonuses for his brutal finishes of Phil Hawes and Dustin Stoltzfus.

Magomedov (26-6-1) won a decision over Warlley Alves in his most recent fight in May, rebounding from back-to-back decision losses to Caio Borralho and Sean Strickland.

The 33-year-old Dagestani has finished 14 of his 26 MMA wins by knockout, including a 19-second stoppage of Stoltzfus in his octagon debut.

MMA Fighting – All Posts